Sunshine and Rainbows
by VnixxiR
Summary: "It can't always be sunshine and rainbows." Fang may be exempt to that particular rule. -Warnings: Vanille.-
1. Part I

**Sunshine and Rainbows – Part I [Updated 2010.12.15]  
****ADDED WARNING: Any FLight or Fanille fans that are strongly adverse to the other pairing... may find this story slightly upsetting.****

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"Fang, are you listening to me?" The Gran Pulsian warrior in question tore her gaze away from the burning fire and found it land on eyes a lighter shade of green to her own. Before she could stop it, she found the corners of her mouth twitch upward as gradually took in the rest of her fellow Oerban's face. Vanille was always so cute when she was angry. It was only a second later when Fang noticed a strange seriousness in the smaller woman's eyes that she very rarely saw.

"I said we need to talk." Vanille repeated the question unheard by Fang the first time asked. While she was usually ready to drop anything and everything for the sake of pleasing Vanille, Fang was actually starting to feel stress and fatigue both physically and emotionally. What made it worse was that it wasn't because of the l'Cie brands they'd had burned into their skins—acting as ticking clocks, counting down to an endless abyss of pain and suffering. No, she had actually been handling that particular situation just fine. She had found Vanille and that had been all she needed. Had been. She hadn't counted on a variable in the form of a certain Cocoon ex-sergeant throwing her entire world completely off balance.

"Faaaaaang!" Vanille's whine and tugs on her arm once again snapped her out of her thoughts. With a small sigh, Fang looped her arm around the smaller woman, forcing her to spin around, lose her balance and fall more or less into Fang's lap.

"We can't just talk here, love?" Fang grinned at the pout present on Vanille's face. It never failed to amuse her when the other Oerban decided to act like a child. While she could barely stand children—spoiled and bratty or not—Fang rather enjoyed being the cause of said behavior in adults; Vanille being a particularly popular victim.

Fang had been a tad too busy playing with an orange pigtails to noticed Vanille wrap and arm around her neck and lift herself up. Fang's fingers stopped moving when she felt Vanille's breath against her ear and one of her hands slowly slide down her back.

"This is something we need to talk about somewhere more… private." The smaller woman emphasized her assertion with a graze of her teeth against Fang's earlobe and her nails along the small of her back. Tired or not, the warrior's nerves had been set on fire by the teasing, sensual and all-together out-of-character tone in Vanille's voice.

Finding herself unable to resist, she allowed the saboteur to take her hand and pull her to her feet before leading her away from the campfire. She may or may not have heard one of the other l'Cie ask where they were going but within seconds she'd dismissed the notion of processing and answering. She was far too concentrated on following the woman leading her away by her wrist. She did, however, allow herself to be mystified at how Vanille could still have her acting like a small puppy; begging—pleading to please her, just by using that tone of voice.

As she allowed herself to be led farther and father from camp, Fang continued to marvel at her Gran Pulsian companion. Vanille was a sly one. As the other l'Cie had found out, she was an excellent actress and particularly good at lying. But this wasn't just limited to her actions concerning their crystal stasis and the events after waking from it. Fang knew that Vanille wasn't always the innocent child everyone thought her to be. Vanille had a mysterious side to her; just as, if not more mischievously flirtatious than her own.

You would have thought the Gran Pulsian warrior and her own boldly confident personality would have clashed with Vanille's hidden one, but it had proven to be the total opposite. 500 some years ago it attracted Fang to her. Intensely. And what started as physical attraction eventually grew into something that couldn't be explained using—nor limited to—the word 'love'. Now, 500 some years later, that bond still remained—unbroken and unrivaled.

For who else could lead the dominant, self-assured Oerba Yun Fang away by the wrist without so much of a whisper of resistance?

Then, as if the question were asked by another party, Fang's mind answered matter-of-factly—with so much certainty that she may as well have said it aloud:

Lightning could.

At that thought—that name—the haze that clouded the warrior's mind since the moment Vanille whispered in her ear back at camp, vanished. Chased away by something of a mix between confusion and guilt. Her lips formed a frown and her legs ceased to move. Why, of all times, was Sunshine on her mind now? As if she didn't have a hard enough time keeping her mind off the damn woman while she was around.

Vanille's tightened grip on her wrist just managed grab her attention. The smaller Oerban was now standing in front of her, a look of curious concern on her face. It only proved to increase the feeling of unease that had Fang rooted to the spot.

"What's wrong Fang?" Vanille asked—innocently enough—but Fang could see through it to the solemn seriousness hidden behind her words, "You've been distracted lately, I can't say it hasn't been worrying me." Another pang of guilt struck as her eyes met harlequin-green ones. If Fang were with anyone else, her bravado would have jumped in and denied anything were wrong, but she couldn't lie to Vanille. Her eyes found and danced along the forest floor as if searching it for the right answer—any answer. How could she possibly explain-?

"Fang?" When the soft voice was followed by a small hand brushing her cheek, Fang pulled away, deciding to take a pass.

"I'm just a little tired, Vanille," She responded, hoping her voice didn't sound as shaky as it felt, "It's been a long day."

"It's been a long _few_ days." Vanille corrected, a sharp tone in her voice now that sent a shiver up Fang's spine, "You've never been this distracted. And ever since we started traveling with Light and-"

"It's just…!" Fang spoke up abruptly, interrupting as if doing so would negate Vanille's last sentence, "…it's only just starting to get to me, Vanille." The warrior ran a hand through her unruly hair, "Can we just.. can we maybe just get some rest?" Fang motioned with her thumb over her shoulder in the direction of the camp.

"Fang-"

"We can talk about it tomorrow, yeah?" The taller Oerban added, her voice urging Vanille to drop the subject. Knowing it'd been a long shot, she searched the other woman's eyes anyway for a sign of resignation. There was none. In fact, what she saw in Vanille's eyes was something she hadn't seen before. There was no innocent playfulness, nor flirtatious teasing. There was something that almost looked like determination; as if she had reached a final decision to a long period of contemplation.

"No, this is going to be settled now." There was a finality in Vanille's voice that kept Fang from moving—from breathing even. It was a moment later that Fang noticed Vanille was looking past her. Somewhere deep in the back of her mind she knew she'd regret following the smaller Gran Pulsian's gaze. But Fang had the reputation of acting before thinking. She turned and found herself staring into cerulean orbs.

"Oh, ya gotta be kidding me…"

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**A/N:**

**EDIT 2010.12.15 |** Since part 3 is turning out to be unexpectedly long, I've decided to merge parts 1 and 2 to balance them out a little. So this means there will be 2 longer parts instead of 3 (unbalanced) ones.  
And because I feel oddly scared and concerned...

GRAAAAH! T_T  
This was supposed to be a One-shot but it was getting MASSIVE so I decided to chop it up into parts _  
...and be mean and upload them a day apart so keep everyone in suspense MWAAAHAHAHAH _  
But no really, it's only because I haven't actually finished the damn thing =_=;; Well, I mean, I have... in my head just, I can't seem to get it on paper/word.  
FXXKING hell I can be such a noob sometimes x_X


	2. Part II

**A/N:**  
If you read Part I before the 2010.12.15, I suggest you go back and re-read it because I made changes to where I split the story. So the previous Part II is now added to Part I.  
...basically if the first few sentences of this part seem to make no sense whatsoever, stop and go back to re-read part I.  
Good? Good ^^

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**Sunshine and Rainbows - Part II**

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"No, this is going to be settled now." There was a finality in Vanille's voice that kept Fang rooted in place. It was a moment later that Fang noticed Vanille looking past her. Somewhere deep in the back of her mind she knew she'd regret following the smaller Gran Pulsian's gaze. But Fang had the reputation of acting before thinking. She turned and found herself staring into cerulean orbs.

"Oh, ya gotta be kidding me…"

Fang found herself facing none other than one Lightning Farron. With her arms folded over her chest, a look on her face that dared Fang to try and move her, the pinkette stood blocking the only real path back towards camp. For what seemed like hours, none of the three moved.

Fang's exasperation started to morph into a sort of desperation. A desperation to try and comprehend the current situation while keeping herself calm and in control. Calling forth what little emotional strength she had left for the night, she squared her shoulders, raised an eyebrow and smirked at the soldier.

"What is this, an intervention or something?" She still struggled to keep her voice from shaking—from revealing the insurmountable confusion and unease she felt, "Didn't know you cared, Sunshine." Fang only barely managed to catch Lightning's flicker of a glance at Vanille before the cold, steely orbs of crystal blue returned to her own.

Fang felt a wave of relief sweep across her as she saw she'd managed to crack the icy glare Lightning had been sporting. The ex-sergeant's shoulders slumped slightly, her eyes fell to the ground and her lips formed a frown. With a soft sigh and shake of her head, Lighting's eyes darted upward once more, this time to look past the Gran Pulsian warrior and at Vanille—who Fang had noticed—had been eerily quiet.

"This was a bad idea." The fact that Lighting had all but murmured the words did not hide a tone of what almost sounded like hurt and disappointment to Fang. Hurt? Disappointment? What in all of Gran Pulse was going on? Fang didn't get a chance to ask before the pinkette started to turn on her heel to walk away. Finding her mouth move, Fang attempted to say something but was beaten to it.

"Light, we agreed." As if her nerves weren't jarred enough, the addition of Vanille's voice sent them into sensory overdrive. She felt the smaller Oerban leave her side, move over to the retreating soldier and grasp her arm, halting her abruptly, "We promised we'd try."

"Try?" Fang's voice cracked as she spoke softly the question her mind had screamed, "Try what? What's… going on?" Her eyes darted between Vanille and Lightning—who remained frozen in her tracks. Her body just as, if not more, rigid than Fang's. The Gran Pulsian warrior didn't know which bewildered her more: Lightning's bizarrely out-of-character actions up until that point; or the fact that Vanille, despite grabbing the taller woman without a second thought, had not been pushed, slapped, kicked or punched away—which honestly was the default response to and action such as the one she'd just performed.

Fang had never noticed Lightning say more than 5 words to Vanille through their journey together. And it hadn't been much different vice-versa. Honestly, Fang was silently grateful for this fact—particularly when she had started feeling more than friendly rivalry towards the Cocoon soldier. While she allowed herself to revel in the flirtatious exchanges between herself and Lighting, she wasn't completely ignorant of the pangs of guilt reminding her of her relationship with Vanille. With the two of them being as far from each other as possible, it allowed Fang to feel just a little less guilty about her unexpectedly intense attraction towards Lighting.

It was an attraction she couldn't explain any easier than her attraction to Vanille. Lightning had a cold, collected, no-nonsense personality that effortlessly clashed with Fang's. The soldier was just about everything the Gran Pulsian warrior was not—everything she tried not to be. Yet Fang had been unable to help herself from forcing Lightning's personality out into the open where they collided—verbally and physically.

And while vastly dissimilar to Fang, Lightning seemed to have even less in common with Vanille. But here and now, Fang watched as the taller of the two turned to face the other. Fang caught a silent exchange being passed between them and found her nerves, once again, on fire. And if that weren't enough, the warrior felt that she may as well have spontaneously combusted when both harlequin-green and cerulean blue eyes locked onto hers.

"Fang," Though said Gran Pulsian had been watching and waiting from any sort of action from either of the other women, Vanille's voice almost caused Fang to jump out of her skin, "Light and I had quite the… conversation the other day."

Mind misty and body strained, Fang found it incredibly difficult to actually process anything she was hearing. Conversation? What conversation? What did it have to do with anything? Why had the air suddenly gotten so hot? And why did Lightning look as uncomfortable as she did?

"Conversation?" Fang just about squeaked. It had gotten to the point where she could no longer control the quiver in her voice, "C-Conversation about what?" Seconds after voicing the question, Fang found herself contemplating whether or not she really wanted the answer—in fear of not being able to handle it.

After another gut-wrenching moment of silence, Lightning suddenly stumbled forward, pushed gently by the smaller Oerban. Fang watched as a flash of reflexive frustration crossed the soldier's face before she turned to Vanille to direct it at her. The Gran Pulsian saboteur merely motioned toward Fang with her chin.

"I think you should… enlighten her."

Bright blue met dark green again. Fang searched Lightning's eyes frantically for any insight as to what was going on. It proved futile since what she saw in the other woman's eyes wasn't anything she'd see before. There was no anger there, no battle-driven fire, no icy glare. The cerulean pools remained shining in the low light but there was a darkness behind them that seemed peculiarly familiar. A darkness that reminded her of…

Before Fang's subconscious could shift her gaze to the smaller woman, Lightning moved. Fang didn't even have time to react before she felt the soldier's hands against her jaw, hair against her forehead and lips against her own. Lips? Was Lighting-? As though linked directly, the thought was abruptly cut off when the pinkette pulled away, head turned away from Fang, her eyes hidden from view. Fang almost found herself pinching her arm she was in total disbelief of what had just happened. Had it just happened? Had Lightning just-

"Mmmm no Light, that's not quite right…" Once again Fang's thoughts were interrupted by the sing-song voice of the other Oerban who had taken the few steps to close the gap between herself and the soldier. Fang watched as Vanille pulled Lightning slowly to turn and face her, but all the while her eyes locked onto Fang's, "…I believe it went a little more like this." The young saboteur added in barely a whisper before finally breaking her gaze away from Fang, creeping up on her toes and capturing Lightning's lips with her own.

At that point, Fang decided she was most certainly dreaming. She gaped at the two women before her. Was Vanille kissing Lightning…? Is Lightning letting her? Did that mean their conversation…? Wait-was Lightning kissing back? Words failed her as Fang watched one of Vanille's hands entangle itself in soft pink locks and one of Lightning's snake it's way around the smaller woman's waist. Fang still hadn't managed to process anything by the time the two of them had pulled apart—Lightning slightly breathless and Vanille with a impish grin on her face.

As if trying to decipher the other two women's actions were impossible enough, Fang couldn't even make sense of her own reaction. Her nerves were completely on the fritz and her mind was racing with too many questions to even begin to think of possible answers. She swallowed thickly as she tried to calm the loud pounds of her heart that seemed to threaten to deafen her. She almost didn't hear Vanille lean forward and speak in a low voice, as if really only for Lightning to hear.

"What did I tell ya, Light?" The smallest of the three giggled, "Cute as a kitten."

Cute as a what-? Fang blinked at the words but had no time to process them before Lightning had moved again. Arms around Fang's neck this time, the soldier one again claimed the warrior's lips in another searing kiss. Perhaps it was the shock and disbelief that engulfed Fang the first time but this time she felt it. She felt it and kissed back.

Hot, passionate—fervent almost—nothing at all like she'd imagined from observing Lightning's icy personality. The haze that had previously rendered Fang unable to anything slowly dissipated, replaced by a uncontrollable heat that spread from the other woman into and through her own body. Lightning's fingers that tickled Fang's jaw were like flames licking at her skin, burning through to her heart and soul.

A different kind of pain hit her chest when Fang found herself struggling for air. Finally pulling away, the taller woman found herself practically gasping for air. Though the notion that she may have been dreaming still lingered at the back of Fang's mind, she found her thoughts surprisingly clear. She dared to let out a small moan through a satisfied smile as Lightning mimicked her finger's actions with her lips, trailing kisses along Fang's jaw and neck.

Being just aware enough to notice movement out of the corner of her eye, she turned to see her Gran Pulsian companion standing at her side, still grinning, watching the pinkette with playful amusement. A moment later, Harlequin-green eyes shifting to Fang. If it were anyone other than the Oerban warrior, the look on Vanille's face would have read as one of inquiring innocence. But Fang knew better. Much better.

Pulling away one of her arms that had somehow found their way to encircle Lightning's waist, Fang grabbed Vanille and tugged the her towards her. She did so firmly but gently as to not interrupt Lightning from her ministrations to her neck. And with a low, guttural growl at the saboteur's teasing yelp, Fang uttered the first words she'd spoken since her… 'enlightenment' and—as they may or may not acknowledge later—the last coherent words that would be spoken for the rest of the night.

"C'mere you…"

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**A/N:**

_*hides in a box of Styrofoam and tapes it closed from the inside*_  
don'thurtme don'thurtme don'thurtme don'thurtme don'thurtme

Good lord that still turned out waaaaay longer than I anticipated-  
Mreeeeh _*headdesk*_  
I have no idea what I was doing for this =_=;;  
I had an idea and it just kinda... mutated on me

I wanted to have fun, okay!  
Lemme alone!  
_*buries herself back in her box*_


End file.
